Construction of a Fourier-transform phase-modulation fluorometer

We have constructed a Fourier-transform phase-modulation fluorometer (FT-PMF) by which a fluorescence decay waveform can be obtained. In the FT-PMF, the modulation frequency of the excitation light source is swept continuously from a direct current (dc) to a high frequency f(max) with a time duration T. The resultant fluorescence signal waveform is Fourier transformed to obtain its amplitude and phase spectra. The ratio of the amplitude spectrum and the difference of the phase spectrum over those of the reference spectra from an excitation waveform are calculated, respectively, and the pair of both spectral data is inverse-Fourier-transformed again to obtain the fluorescence decay waveform. The light source used was an ultraviolet light-emitting diode (UV LED) whose operating condition was f(max) = 50-120 MHz and T = 10 mu s. To demonstrate the performance of the FT-PMF, we carried out (1) the measurement of a fluorescent decay waveform of YAG materials enclosed in a white LED and (2) determinations of fluorescence lifetimes of 10 ppm quinine sulfate in 0.1 N H2SO4 and 10 ppm rhodamine 6G in ethanol.